Pop-ups have become a common practice for experimenting with brick-and-mortar retail environments, engaging existing communities and acquiring new customers, and have therefore become a key venue for innovation in beauty retail.
“Pop-ups offer fantastic opportunities for brands – including those already listed in retail – to activate campaigns in a way that allows more control and creativity than traditional store environments, which can sometimes be a little more restrictive,” says Fiona Glen, Director of Projects at beauty brand consultancy The Red Tree.
Despite their appeal, pop-ups are highly wasteful – every sign, freestanding unit and counter contributes to the industry and global problem of excessive single-use waste.
It also runs counter to the industry’s aspirations to adopt sustainable practices in production, ingredient sourcing and packaging to meet the needs of increasingly environmentally conscious customers. And yet sustainability is rarely discussed in retail design, instead the onus falls on the individual products on the shelves.
Set construction is one of the biggest areas of single-use waste generated at a pop-up, says Eva Phelan, experiential creative producer at event and design studio Heaps+Stacks.
Because of their ephemeral nature, merchandising often can’t be reused or repurposed for multiple promotions. “You create a custom set or layout for what might only be a two-day pop-up, and that set and layout is specific to the venue you’re popping up at, so it often can’t be reworked elsewhere.”
Regardless of the industry, most stores do not have space to store anything
Glen explains that this is also due to a lack of storage and manpower, especially for brands that already have flagship stores: “Firstly, it’s very rarely exactly the same messaging and pricing. Secondly, most stores, regardless of industry, don’t have the space to store anything. They don’t have the manpower of teams to outsource it – store staff are often really short on time.”
Instead, Phelan explains, the brands she works with are trying to be more considerate by reducing their “waste” — plastic-heavy branded items — and offering free coffee or free services instead. She believes these steps are small improvements, but are far from enough to tackle the problem head-on.
Unsurprisingly, British brand Lush has outperformed many of its competitors as a pioneer in sustainable retail design. Sophie Walker-Walsh, Senior Events Manager at Lush, explained how important it is for the brand to express its eco-conscious values in both merchandising and the products it sells in stores, even if it means spending more.
“When it comes to building something new for a pop-up or retail activation, we make sure the items are robust enough for multiple installations and easy to store, which often ultimately comes at a higher cost.”
For Lush, printing is the aspect of running a pop-up that creates the most waste, she revealed: “We use our in-house processed material for all signage, which means it meets the criteria for internal recycling under our ‘Bring it back’ program.
“We also tend to handwrite signs and keep the wording as generic as possible to encourage reuse. Our incredibly creative production and purchasing teams are always looking for new and innovative materials to use, such as cork from Portugal or recycled surfaces from manufacturer Smile Plastics.”
The company also works with a list of materials that meet its purchasing standards for conversions during its activities and events in its permanent stores. There is also a project team whose task is to educate customers about Lush’s ethical values.
“The project team is also conducting regional training to remind store staff of Lush’s ethical principles in various areas such as purchasing, manufacturing, campaigns and product innovation, so that they can best communicate these values to customers in store.”
Other brands have also taken steps to reduce waste in their pop-ups, but overall, this is rare to find. In 2022, Farmacy Beauty unveiled its temporary installation “Farmacyland” in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. The 120-square-foot set was built from 83% upcycled materials and created in collaboration with artwork from sustainability designer Zero Waste Daniel.
Brands are under so much pressure to drive social content and sales that sustainability is a low priority
L’Occitane has also implemented eco-friendly measures in its travel retail pop-ups as well as in airports across Europe and America.
The green roadshow launched in 2022. Its centrepiece was a recyclable cardboard tree from which customers could pick leaves to receive free on-site treatments, such as a skin diagnosis or hand massage. Each leaf also contained a packet of flower seeds that customers could plant at home.
The implementation of sustainable measures in pop-up merchandising is often promoted by agencies such as Heaps+Stacks and not by the brands themselves.
“Sometimes it’s an initial conversation that then gets pushed aside. I think brands are under so much pressure to create social content, make sales and hit these KPIs that sustainability becomes the lowest priority,” says Phelan.
Tight budgets also play a role, even for larger brands. Glen says the shorter the pop-up lasts, the less profitable it is due to set-up costs. However, the longer it runs, the higher the costs for staff and rent.
Phelan said she recently collaborated with an unnamed major brand and offered the option to recycle goods, albeit at a higher price, which she said was “not a huge increase.”
They decided against it because ultimately they were concerned with staying within budget – “I think that’s a challenge. It’s very, very rare to get a zero-waste pop-up or something completely sustainable that doesn’t have a negative impact on the environment.”
It’s a blind spot for customers too. Phelan believes shoppers get dulled by the excitement of a pop-up, such as the chance to grab freebies, and forget about retail’s impact on the environment. As such, there should be less pressure on brands to create more sustainable set-ups, and that’s why little progress has been made across the industry.
Walker-Walsh puts this down to shoppers not equating experiences with impact, but says they are essential to demanding progress. “I hope that as more places, suppliers and companies are held accountable for their consumption and impact, customers will demand more transparency in this area.”
